Renowned Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad received the
Prix Henri Langlois at the French festival for her collection of cinematic
productions. "I dedicate this award to all the
mourning mothers of my
land", she said at picking up her award.

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

The award was handed to Bani-Etemad at the Rencontres Internationales du
Cinema Heritage in Vincennes that concluded on February 1, Mehr News Agency reported.

Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami won the Henri-Langlois Prize in 2006.

The prize is named after Henri Langlois, the Phantom of the Cinematheque in
France.

The purpose of the award is to recognize and reward efforts and talents of all
those who work to share their passion for film and help transmit their message
to new generations.

"Off-Limits" (1986) is the debut film by the 54-year-old filmmaker, who is
certainly the leading female contemporary filmmaker in Iran. She concentrates on
social and political themes in her films.

Her credits include "Canary Yellow", "Foreign Currency", "Nargess", "The
Blue-Veiled", "The May Lady", "Under the Skin of the City" and "Mainline".

She is also director of several short and documentary films such as "Baran and
the Native", "Our Times" and "To Whom Will You Show These Films Anyway?"

Bani-Etemad was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of London in
July 2009.

Related Video:

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad reads
the statement of Iranian
documentary filmmakersWe are documentary filmmakers. Our work is to discover and to tell the truth.
Truth can only be found when all aspects of reality are told. In the course of
recent events in our country, our national media, by deliberately hiding the
reality of the situation, is making it impossible for the public to access the
truth.